Undaunted Love (PART ONE): Banished Saga, Book 3 (23 page)

“It seems this is most likely his way of enticing you home,” Sophronia said. She tapped the arm of her chair. “I wonder what business he, a businessman among the wealthiest of this town, would have in the North End.”

“He said it was one of the reasons women would never be a man’s equal. The fact I had so little understanding of business that I couldn’t fathom his presence there,” Savannah said.

“Pompous fool. Although I wish it were otherwise, I’m sure we’ll know in time his business.”

“Did he hurt you, dearest?” Aunt Betsy asked, reaching a gnarled hand out to stroke Savannah’s arm.

“No, not at all. Although I hated seeing him. At the time, it seemed he only knew about my visiting Florence in the North End.”

“Then it is even more imperative that he does not discover your visits to the workshop,” Sophie said. “For no matter what you say, I fear he is far from rational. He sees you as a plaything, and he’s far from finished toying with you—or your friends.”

Savannah shivered and shared a worried look with Jeremy. “I’m afraid you may be correct.”

“If you do not object, Mrs. Chickering, I would like to continue to call here,” Jeremy said.

“You may, young man, but not daily. Perhaps you should come with a portfolio as though you are discussing a project with us?” She smiled. “That way, we will be able to tell the newspapermen that you are here on business.”

“You may complete the commission your brother started but failed to finish when he departed nearly two years ago,” Betsy said. “Why don’t you return tomorrow to discuss it further? I find I’m too tired to consider detailing all I desire in the piece today.”

Jeremy watched her, his concern fading as he noted her sly smile. “Of course, Mrs. Parker. It would be my pleasure.”

“If you could come by around two, that would be most agreeable,” Sophie said.

“Oh, I agree,” Betsy said.

“Aren’t you visiting your parents tomorrow afternoon?” Savannah asked Aunt Betsy.

“Exactly, dearest. Exactly,” Aunt Betsy said with a triumphant smile. Sophronia cackled her delight, and Jeremy grinned at the conspirators.

He smiled at Savannah as he rose. “Thank you for inviting me to tea. I look forward to tomorrow.” He nodded, his glance lingering on Savannah, before he turned and left.

“Well, my dear,” Aunt Betsy said. “Now I understand why you ignored Sophie’s advice. I’d be hard pressed to stay away from such a man.”

Sophronia
harrumphed
, but Savannah noted a smile playing around her lips. “He seems a decent man. I hope he proves himself as worthy as his brother.”

“So do I,” Savannah whispered.

CHAPTER 21

“WHAT HAS UPSET YOU, sweet Savannah?” Jeremy asked. He reached out to trace the line of her jaw, hoping to infuse a bit of color in her ashen cheeks. He glanced around the small sitting room at the back of the house, noticing they were alone.

“Have you seen the papers?” Savannah asked. She thrust one at him and spun toward the door to lock it. “I have no desire for the maid or others to overhear our conversation and profit from it.”

He noted the article’s headline, “Back Bay Socialite Abandons Mansion for Carpenter’s Dusty Warehouse.” Jeremy looked up and met Savannah’s stricken eyes. “Who talked to them?”

“I don’t know,” Savannah whispered. “If they know about you, then you’re in danger, Jeremy.”

“Don’t worry about my safety, darling. I can fend for myself.” He scanned the article, frowning and shaking his head as he finished it. “What a bunch of worthless twaddle.” He tossed it onto a small side table. “They suspect you are visiting someone in the Haymarket area because you are seen frequenting the neighborhood and because your cousin married a cabinetmaker. They suspect you are conducting an affair after your defection from your husband’s home four months ago. Although my identity has yet to be confirmed, if I even exist.”

He reached out and stroked her shoulders. “You’re not seeking a divorce. It doesn’t matter, love. It’s just idle curiosity.” He caressed her cheek. “Although I hate to admit it, I think Sophie’s right. You need to cease visiting me.”

“I need to see you,” Savannah said as she leaned into him. “I hate that this might keep us apart.”

“It will only prevent us from having time alone at my warehouse. It won’t prevent me from seeing you. You can visit Flo, and I can call here. We have the perfect excuse for me to visit, thanks to your aunt.”

“If you come here too frequently, some might become suspicious,” Savannah whispered. “You shouldn’t need to discuss the design of a cabinet too many times or people will wonder about your competence. I’d hate for your business to suffer.”

“I could claim that we are discussing our mutual relatives,” Jeremy said. “And there’s nothing that says you must remain in Boston.”

“I enjoy travel,” Savannah said as she nestled her head on his shoulder. “At least I did when I traveled first class. I don’t know what it would be like if I would travel now.”

“The seats won’t be as wide or as plush, but you end up in the same place. With more coin in your pocket,” Jeremy teased.

“I’m not ready to leave yet.”

“Start over. Start over with me,” Jeremy said, unable to hide the trace of pleading from his voice. He cradled her face with his large hands. “I know you have no reason to put your faith in another man, but I promise you that I will treat you well. I …”

Savannah shivered at his words and pushed away from him, any color from his embrace leeching away again. “You don’t know what you’re asking of me, Jeremy.”

“I know you’re the woman I want to be with. Together we can face anything. Can’t you see that, darling?”

“No, I can’t,” Savannah said, her arms wrapped around and hugging her waist. “Due to my actions, I’m in this predicament, Mr. McLeod. This is my fate.”

“So, I am back to
Mr. McLeod
. What happened between us means nothing?” Jeremy demanded, as he clasped her arms and shook her gently. “Why are you denying yourself a chance at happiness?”

“I can’t marry you!” She pointed to the paper taunting her on the side table.

“I don’t care,” Jeremy said but then closed his eyes on a long sigh. “That’s a lie. I do care. I want you. I want you as my wife.” He opened tortured eyes to meet hers.

“No, you don’t. Not really.”

“Do you think I make love to women in my workshop frequently?” Jeremy demanded. “Or was that acceptable behavior for one of your class?” His flushed cheeks and rapid breathing betrayed his anger.

“I’m not who you think I am,” Savannah murmured. Tears spilled from her eyes, and, before she could wipe at them, Jeremy had raised his hands to brush them away.

“What do you mean?” he whispered, as he leaned forward to kiss her cheek and the tears that continued to fall. She cried, gripping him to her.

Savannah refused to let him go. She didn’t want him to see her face. “I can’t have another child. Never again.”

He leaned away, clasping her shoulders. “Tell me.”

“When I had my baby, the doctor told Jonas that I had injured something inside me that prevented me from having any more children.”

Jeremy pulled her close, his breath rasping in Savannah’s ear. “I imagine your husband took great pleasure in tormenting you with this fact,” Jeremy whispered. At Savannah’s nod, his hold on her tightened. “I will not lie to you and tell you it does not matter to me.” Savannah was unable to stifle a small sob at his words.

He leaned away from her, wiping tears from her cheeks and wisps of hair away, tucking a strand behind her left ear. “I have dreamed, unwillingly, of seeing you heavy with our child. Of knowing that we were to share the dream of a child.” Savannah nodded a few times, her eyes losing any vibrancy and becoming dulled with pain. “But listen to me and listen to me well, my love. My dream is to be with you. To wake with you by my side every day. To talk with you, knowing that no matter my demons or dreams, you will accept them and me.

“Understand me, Savannah. I want you, the woman. The woman who was strong enough to stand up to her husband. The woman who would fight to find her child. The woman who never became bitter or angry with the world but is still filled with sweetness and goodness. The woman who looks at me and does not shy away from what she sees. If we are not to have children, we will bear that. What I cannot bear is to be without you.”

“You say this now, but you won’t be content a few years from now. You’ll want more and become dissatisfied with me,” Savannah whispered.

“You must have faith in me, darling. Faith in my love for you. Has it been so long since someone has loved you?” Jeremy whispered, wiping away fresh tears.

Savannah closed her eyes before meeting his with her sorrow-filled eyes. “Yes. There has always needed to be a reason for someone to love me. My dowry. The prestige I would bring the family. My beauty.”

“I can’t lie and say I don’t love your beauty,” Jeremy teased. “But I love you, my darling. I hope someday you can believe in it.”

“Help me to believe,” Savannah whispered as she leaned into Jeremy, kissing him. He kissed her gently before moving to kiss her neck.

“Savannah,” he whispered. “Let me hold you. I ask of nothing more from you,” he whispered as he traced soft circles on her back.

She froze in his arms for a moment before relaxing again in his gentle embrace. He murmured, “Shh, don’t fret so, love. I desire you. I will always desire you. But I don’t want you to think that is all I want.”

Savannah burrowed into him, seeking more of his comforting touch. “Thank you, Jeremy.” She felt a whisper of a kiss against her head and stood there, for many minutes, in contented silence in his embrace.

Savannah whispered after a while. “What are we to do?”

“What do you want to do?” Jeremy asked.

“I want to run away from here with you,” she said on a long sigh.

“No, you don’t,” Jeremy said with a tender smile. “The Savannah I know and love would want to face what is occurring here before embarking on a new life.”

“Will you wait for me?” she whispered.

“Of course, my love,” he murmured as he leaned forward and kissed her fleetingly.

“Will you visit again tomorrow?” Savannah asked as he moved toward the door.

“Of course,” he whispered, grasping her hand to kiss her fingers.

***

SAVANNAH SAT IN THE REAR sitting room, contemplating Jeremy’s visit. After a while, she heard raised voices coming from the front of the house. She rose, tiptoeing down the stairs and hallway to the doorway of Sophronia’s yellow front sitting room. Angry voices emerged from there, and Savannah paused in midstep as she recognized the voices. She peered around the doorway, awed by Sophronia and her lack of fear in the face of Jonas’s wrath.

“How dare you continue to keep a married man from his wife?” Jonas intoned. “You have been warned, Mrs. Chickering, that I will take action against you for harboring her.”

“And what exactly will be the charge, Mr. Montgomery? Do you truly wish the court to hear all of your vile escapades against your wife?”

“No one will hear anything of the sort,” Jonas hissed. “The courtroom remains under the domain of men. It is one of the many ways men continue to shelter women from the harsher realities of the world.”

“More likely it is one of the many ways you deprive us of our rights and then declare you do so out of your interest in our welfare. How dare you enter my home, and threaten me and my guest?”

“And how dare you enter my house and encourage my wife to leave me,” Jonas snapped.

“If she had been content with your company and treatment, such an offer would never have been enticing. However, I fear that one too many encounters with your fist or your boot showed her your true colors.”

“I want my wife back.” Jonas stood in an attempt to make Sophronia cower.

“Never,” Sophie said, standing and glaring at him. “You will never have her back.”

“If you think she will find happiness with another man, I will find him and kill him. She is mine.”

“No, she is her own person. She belongs to no one,” Sophronia said.

“Damn your infernal meddling, woman!” Jonas roared, striking Sophronia severely across the cheek, sending her flying. Her head hit a side table with a resounding smack, and she collapsed onto the floor.

Savannah screamed for the butler and maids, and, within moments, the room was filled with Sophronia’s staff. At Savannah’s yell, Jonas turned to stare at Savannah, his eyes gleaming in triumph.

“Ah, so there you are, my lovely wife,” he said in a cool, calm voice as he blocked her entrance into the sitting room.

“Jonas, let me help Sophie,” she said, moving to rush past him.

“No, there are plenty to help her,” he said. He gripped her arm and pushed her against the wall in the hallway. “I fear you are in need of many lessons, Mrs. Montgomery.”

Savannah began to shake at the soft predatory tone he had always used before one of his “lessons.”

“No, I have no need, ever again, for lessons from you,” Savannah said as she struggled. He held onto her wrists, gripping them fiercely to the point Savannah thought they would snap.